Linklaters advises Kalyon on the financing of the 1.350GW Karapinar single-site solar plant, one of the largest in the world, with a $812m syndicated facility

Linklaters has advised Kalyon Enerji Yatirimlari AS (a subsidiary of Kalyon Holdings, a large Turkish conglomerate) on the successful financial closing of the 1.350GW Karapinar solar plant project, with a $812m syndicated facility. Linklaters has acted for Kalyon as project sponsor and borrower in respect of an ECA-backed project financing the solar plant.

The Kalyon solar plant is one of the largest single-site solar power projects in the world and is also Turkey’s largest solar power plant.  It is a landmark project under Turkey’s YEKA renewable energy programme.

The facility will meet the annual electrical energy needs of approximately 2 million people. In addition, 1.5 million tons of fossil waste and carbon emissions will be displaced annually, and, by the end of 2022, the project will increase the share of solar energy in Turkey’s total energy production by 20%.

A total of $812m in financing agreements for the project were signed with UK Export Finance (UKEF), J.P. Morgan Chase, Denizbank, Garanti BBVA, İşbank, Turkiye Kalkinma (TKYB), Türkiye Sınai Kalkınma Bankası (TSKB) and VakıfBank with a 12-year term.

The Linklaters team was led in Paris by Stephen Le Vesconte, partner, along with Alexander Leadill, managing associate and Etienne Paletto, associate in Energy and Infrastructure. Patryk Figiel, partner, Natalia Mikolajczyk, managing associate, and Michal Maruszak, associate from the Warsaw office, Jonathan Terry, managing associate from the Dubai office and Justine Hung, associate from the London office, in Energy and Infrastructure, also intervened, as well as Elena Svabic, associate in Capital Markets from the London office, and Andrew Compton, partner, Will Kim, senior associate and April Kent, associate in Finance from the New York office.